I have seen this book come up over and over again on Goodreads, in blogs I follow, and online. You know the old saying, “You can’t judge a book by its cover?” Well, that holds true here.
This was a book that I just wouldn’t have read by looking at it or even after reading the brief descriptions of it. It just didn’t seem like something I would enjoy.
My wife, you may recall, recently joined Goodreads and has been listening to audio books now. It’s been fun to see many of the books I have read pop up on her “want to read” list.
She read this book and loved it. She said she thought I would like it. A few of my friends had recently read it as well and said it was one of the best books they read this year. So I checked it out and was not disappointed.
It was a great story! Here is the Goodreads synopsis:
Remarkably Bright Creatures, an exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow’s unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.
After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.
Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors–until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.
Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.
Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.
The characters were very real and they dealt with real life issues (death, addiction, grief, gossip, depression, love, etc). At first you wonder how everything fits together, but as the story moves along the puzzle comes together nicely.
It is a heartwarming story that I am so glad I read. I highly recommend it.
You may recall that a couple weeks ago I wrote about the Marlow Murder Club. It is very similar to the Thursday Night Murder Club books. I loved it. You can read about that here:
I was glad to see that the second book in the series was also available in audiobook form and I checked it out immediately. It did not disappoint, even though I had an idea of how the murder was accomplished without knowing who the murderer was.
Here is the Goodreads synopsis:
It’s been an enjoyable and murder-free time for Judith, Suzie and Becks – AKA the Marlow Murder Club – since the events of last year. The most exciting thing on the horizon is the upcoming wedding of Marlow grandee, Sir Peter Bailey, to his nurse, Jenny Page. Sir Peter is having a party at his grand mansion on the river Thames the day before the wedding, and Judith and Co. are looking forward to a bit of free champagne.
But during the soiree, there’s a crash from inside the house, and when the Marlow Murder Club rush to investigate, they are shocked to find the groom-to-be crushed to death in his study.
The study was locked from the inside, so the police don’t consider the death suspicious. But Judith disagrees. As far as she’s concerned, Peter was murdered! And it’s up to the Marlow Murder Club to find the killer before he or she strikes again…
For a long time, I tried to steer away from some of the books that featured the same main character(s). Many years ago I read the Ben Kincaid series from William Bernhardt. I enjoyed the first couple, but then I felt like each book after consisted of recaps from the books before. It got old and I stopped reading them.
Lately, however, the series I have read with returning characters have been fantastic. Much like watching Columbo, Perry Mason, or Murder She Wrote, it is a joy to revisit these main characters.
There was a point in the middle of the book where a piece of evidence is presented and I began to realize just how the murder was committed (in a sense). Despite that knowledge, I didn’t know who the killer/killers was/were. It was a satisfying ending and another great mystery.
The third book of this series was just released to bookstores and it is called “The Queen of Poisons.” I will be looking for that one soon!
On my way to work today, something happened that struck me in a big way. I didn’t expect it, and perhaps that’s why I felt compelled to share it with you.
In order to get to the expressway, I have to drive on a two lane road. Along the way there are many homes, a church or two and a few businesses. As I drove south, I noticed a couple pedestrians walking north, close to the curb. They were on my side of the road. Obviously, because of the storm, not many of the sidewalks had been cleared, so they opted to walk in the road.
From a distance, I couldn’t tell much about them, other than they were walkers. The closer I got to them, the more I could see that they were two young boys probably pre-teens. I could see that there were no cars coming towards me in the other lane, so long before I was close to them, I got over into those lanes so that they didn’t have to get off the street and into the snow.
As I got closer, the one boy raised his hand in a wave and as I passed mouthed “Thank you.” I waved back at them as I passed and nodded. That small gesture from that boy brought a smile to my face. He didn’t have to acknowledge me at all, but he did. I sit here still pondering it.
Polite pre-teens are few and far between. Perhaps they have even become a stereotype. You know: rude, mean, bullying, know everything, etc… That’s what most of the TV shows, movies and even the nightly news portrays them as anyway. Not this kid, at least from what I witnessed today.
Kudos to that kid! Be different, young man. Break that stereotype. Be kind. Be thankful. Kudos to his parents or whoever is raising that boy to show respect. We need more of that!
One simple wave. One simple thank you. It gives me hope for humanity.
They say “out with the old and in with the new,” but I’m glad that an old feature continues! I am, of course, talking about Turntable Talk hosted by Dave Ruch from A Sound Day. For 22 months, he has proposed various musical topics for our group of music lovers to write about. Not only do I love writing for it, but I love reading the other submissions.
This month we go “wordless.” Dave says, “…let’s look at INSTRUMENTAL IN THEIR SUCCESS.Share with us all an instrumental tune you like a lot, and a few words about why.”
I write this, knowing that I am one of the last contributors, so I have no idea what has already been featured by other writers. As far as the topic, there was no shortage of songs to choose from. I began a list of instrumentals on a post it note pad. Each song made me think of another. About 20 post it notes later, I knew I had to stop and pick one. The problem was, which one to choose.
I LOVE instrumentals. I have countless CD collections featuring instrumental hits. One of the best was a series from Rhino Records called “Rock Instrumental Classics.” It was a 5 CD series that featured instrumental hits from the 50’s, the 60’s, the 70’s, surf hits, and soul hits.
Time Life Records had a series called “Your Hit Parade,” which featured music from the 1940’s all the way through the early 1960’s. That collection featured many instrumentals, too. There are SO many to pick from. My list included:
Green Onions – Booker T & the MG’s
Bumble Boogie – B. Bumble and the Stingers
One Mint Julep – Ray Charles
Kokomo – Asia Minor
Topsy Part 2 – Cozy Cole
Classical Gas – Mason Williams
Java – Al Hirt
Yakety Sax – Boots Randolph
Popcorn – Hot Butter
Axel F – Harold Faltermeyer
No Matter What Shape Your Stomach’s In – The T-Bones
The Theme From Sanford and Son – Quincy Jones.
That last one led me on a rabbit trail of TV Theme songs. There were plenty that were hits: Peter Gunn, Bonanza, Mission: Impossible, Theme from SWAT, Miami Vice, Route 66, Dragnet, The X-Files, The Rockford Files …. and finally, my pick for this month’s topic.
Hawaii Five-O was a long-running police procedural drama (1968-1980) about detectives Steve McGarrett (played by Jack Lord) and Dan “Danno” Williams (played by James MacArthur) who worked the Hawaiian islands beat. The theme was composed by Morton Stevens, who started out as an arranger/conductor for Sammy Davis Jr. and became director of music for CBS on the West Coast. The theme song won Stevens two Emmy Awards (in 1970 and 1974).
The song was recorded by the Ventures, who were instrumental (pun intended) in popularizing the electric guitar throughout the 1960’s. Their first hit was Walk, Don’t Run in 1960. The quartet charted 14 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and have sold over 100 million records making them the greatest instrumental band of all time.
The Venture’s version of the song was a Top 5 record, peaking at #4 spending 14 weeks on the chart. There were many session musicians who played along with the group including guitar player Tommy Tedesco of the famous Wrecking Crew.
I read somewhere that the Hawaii Five-O theme is the unofficial fight song for the University of Hawaii. This is one of those songs I wish we had played when I was in band. As a matter of fact, being a former band geek is probably why I love this song so much. I can listen to it 4 or 5 times in a row and focus on different things in the song. There are so many cool musical things in it. Allow me to illustrate with words and then listen to see if my wordy description makes sense.
Right from the get-go that drum crescendo into the tympany grabs me. (In one of my many listens to this song, I actually thought about making a list of great “tympany songs!”). Then you have the guitar and trumpets come in with the main theme doing a call and answer type thing with that flute-y instrument for the first verse. Another drum/horn crescendo to take you to the second verse with more guitar and now the flute answer is more of a counter melody.
A minute in and you get another drum/horn crescendo and a repeat of the melody. This time, you have some horns and trumpets on the answer. At 1:15, you get that fantastic staccato trumpet stings that take you to the final 30 seconds of the song. Now we’re at the big build to the grand finale. Here, you begin to hear what our band director used to call “pyramids.” You have one instrument, then another, and another and another building on each other until that final bit. There is a fast short pyramid from 1:27 to 1:30 between the horns and trumpets. Then at 1:35 the big build happens, followed by another bigger pyramid until the final trumpet stabs and guitar tympani ending. The song is an almost 2 minute masterpiece that always makes me feel good.
Ok, I know my description was a bit much. However, this is the perfect illustration of what I tend to do when listening to music. One listen I focus on the guitar and the next listen I check out the drum part. I tend to pick it apart and then appreciate how it all comes together.
It is interesting to know that there are actually a couple vocal versions of the song! I won’t post links here because we are focused on instrumentals. It should be no surprise that Don Ho did a vocal version. HIs version starts fast and turns into a ballad (“You Can Come With Me”). Then, Sammy Davis Jr, who composer Morton Stevens worked for at one time, did a version called “You Can Count on Me.” Both versions are on YouTube.
Thanks again to Dave for asking me to take part in this feature and for hosting it. I look forward to the next musical topic.
Michigan got hit with it’s first real winter storm this weekend. It was no joke. It started Friday afternoon after I got to work. In the short couple hours I was there, the snow accumulated quickly. It didn’t take long for patients to start cancelling their appointments for that evening.
Believe it or not, despite the 6-8 inches of snow that had already fallen, there were still a couple patients who were going to drive in. The problem was that our techs were having trouble getting in. We ended up having to cancel everyone for that night. This was probably a good thing, because I got to go home early.
My wife didn’t want me driving in the storm, but I certainly didn’t want to sleep at work. So I ventured out and my normal hour and ten minute drive wound up being about 3 hours. The drive was treacherous. There were cars flipped in ditches, semi-trucks jackknifed, flares surrounding cars that had stalled, and many freeway closures. It was a white knuckle drive and I was glad to finally be home.
Saturday, the kids and I took advantage of the snow and tried out their new sled.
I pulled them all over the yard and up and down the street. It didn’t take long before my copy cat (Andrew) wanted to pull his sister in the sled. I really didn’t think he’d be able to, but he did!
Daisy was having a blast in the snow and kept trying to bite the cord we were pulling the sled with. Naturally, Ella had to pull Andrew as well.
It was very cold out, so I had to really beg them to come inside. They didn’t want to, but I promised hot cocoa, so they came in.
Sam was supposed to work Saturday, but all the patients had cancelled. So we enjoyed an evening at home. Ella decided that she would give us a spa day.
Sam got her nails done first. As I chuckled about how hard it was going to be to get that polish off, Ella informed me that I was next!
I still have nail polish in my cuticles!
Before bed, we made an obstacle course in the living room for them to burn off all their extra energy.
Sam was teaching Ella how to tuck and roll. She stood on the foam nugget (above), touched her toes, tucked her head, and they rolled over. She wanted me to try it. Three times I did it and failed miserably each time. My wonderful and loving wife took video and posted on Facebook for all to see. It is not my proudest moment and I look like hell! I will NOT be sharing here.
All the running out in the snow did tucker Daisy out. I had to laugh as I sat on the couch next to her and I looked over and saw this:
My brother and his friend had tickets to see the Madonna show in Detroit last night. He drove up on Saturday night and stayed at a hotel. He stopped by Sunday and hung out with the kids. They were so excited to see their Uncles. At one point, Andrew kept bringing books to my brother to read. He’d read it right the first time and then (when asked to read it again) would alter the story with humorous comments.
Any time I get to see my brother is treasured. We need to take a trip down to see him in Ohio this summer.
Sunday Night, the Detroit Lions beat the LA Rams in their first playoff win sin 32 years. I wrote about this in the previous blog, but had to share this. Coincidentally, the Detroit Free Press posted a picture of the temperature in the little town of Hell, MI on Sunday night.
I’ve watched a lot of tight football games. I’ve been at the edge of my seat for many of them. Can I tell you that my heart rate is still up there after last night’s Detroit Lions playoff game?!
There was a lot of talk about this game. Matt Stafford was our Quarterback for years. They traded him to the Rams and we got Jared Goff. Stafford went on to win a Superbowl.
Last night Goff and Stafford went head to head in a playoff game. The Lions had not won a playoff game in 30+ years. There was more than electricity in the air.
Stafford, who did a lot for the Lions, was boo’d when he took the field. The crowd chanted “Jared Goff” when he came out. I get it. Goff is our guy now. Stafford even admitted that he knew he was “the enemy.” Was it necessary for the crowd to boo his kids … no, but again, all they were thinking about was a win.
Two great teams. Only one winner. I will not lie when I tell you I was almost in tears. What an amazing feeling! This team has brought life long fans like me a season like we haven’t seen in way too long.
The last five minutes of the game had me so anxious! It was a 1 point game! When we got the first down and all we needed to do was take a knee three times…..I was still worried. I’ve seen too many crazy outcomes to not be worried. But, alas, a victory!!!
Next week, we have another playoff game. I may need a valium, but I will once again be rooting for my Detroit Lions!
No matter what happens, I thank Dan Campbell, Jared Goff and the rest of the team for a year that has been amazing to watch!!
The other night my wife was singing to Andrew at bedtime. Like me, she has her own repertoire of songs to choose from. This particular night, she chose to sing Amazing Grace.
It is truly one of the most recognized hymns of all time, and the story of how it was written is fascinating. Anyway, for those unfamiliar with the first verse:
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost and now am found. Was blind but now I see.”
Sam started singing the first line and Andrew says, “Dis is Pa’s song! Dis is Pa’s song!”. She figures that it is completely possible that her dad or mom may have sung this song to him too.
So she says, “Oh yeah?”
He replies, “Pa’s wrench was lost in the garage, but now it is found! Pa found it!!”
Why do I have a feeling a wretch will forever now be a wrench from now on?!
One of the things I love about Goodreads is how they will take books that you have read and offer suggestions based on them. You may recall that I have read all of the available books in the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman. This book was suggested based on those. I admit there are similarities, but this one was just as good.
This is the first book in the series. It was very well written and there were plenty of twists and turns throughout it. There were likable characters and characters that you like to hate. I was left guessing right up to the end, and there were some surprises that wrapped everything up nicely.
Here is the Goodreads synopsis:
To solve an impossible murder, you need an impossible hero…
Judith Potts is seventy-seven years old and blissfully happy. She lives on her own in a faded mansion just outside Marlow, there’s no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink, and to keep herself busy she sets crosswords for The Times newspaper.
One evening, while out swimming in the Thames, Judith witnesses a brutal murder. The local police don’t believe her story, so she decides to investigate for herself, and is soon joined in her quest by Suzie, a salt-of-the-earth dog-walker, and Becks, the prim and proper wife of the local Vicar.
Together, they are the Marlow Murder Club.
When another body turns up, they realize they have a real-life serial killer on their hands. And the puzzle they set out to solve has become a trap from which they might never escape…
The author, Robert Thorogood, is an English screenwriter. He is best known as the creator of the BBC 1 Murder Mystery Series, Death in Paradise. I was excited to learn that the PBS show Masterpiece is adapting this book into a 4-part miniseries that will air on PBS soon.
It’s no secret that I love a good mystery, and I enjoyed this one a lot!
We woke up today to about an inch and a half of snow. There is more on the way before the week is done. It’s been fun to see how Daisy reacts to the snow.
She is not quite sure what to do with it. She sniffs it. She rolls in it. She eats it. It’s quite a scene.
When she is out by herself it was fun to watch. When the kids came outside, it was even more fun. The kids could not wait to get outside.
They were making snow angels, throwing snow up in the air, and running around like crazy. The puppy was loving every minute of it.
The puppy was hilarious. I would grab a bunch of snow and make a snowball. The pup would see it and get excited. I would throw it and it would explode as soon as it hit the ground. The pup would run to where it landed and would look around for it. If a snowball remained a snowball after it hit the ground, she’d go to pick it up with her mouth. Naturally, it would crumble immediately.
The more I threw snowballs for her, the funnier I found it. Sam came outside and I said, “Hey, watch this dumb dog!” I threw a snowball and she’d run after it it and go crazy when she couldn’t find it. She’s be digging around the snow. I was cracking up.
I did this for quite a while and karma came back to get me. I reached down to grab some snow for a snowball only to see that I had also scooped up with it a semi-fresh bit of dog poop! It was all over my gloves. No more snowballs for me.
Ok, Karma, I won’t make fun of the puppy anymore. I got your crappy message – literally!
About a week ago, my wife told me she wanted to read more books this year. She sent me a text with a book and asked me to get it from the library for her. She didn’t have a library card at the time, believe it or not.
I told her I read 66 books last year and she couldn’t believe it. She asked me how I did it. I told her than most of the books I read were actually audio books that I listened to on the way to and from work. I explained how much I really enjoyed that and how it made the drive go by faster.
Well, she got herself a library card and downloaded the Libby app from our library. She began listening to a book by her favorite author and almost finished it at work in one night. She let it play while she worked. She then realized she could connect it to the car and started listening to it there, too.
I had mentioned that I use Goodreads to find books that interest me. She created a Goodreads account and it’s been fun to see her adding many books to her “want to read” list. Some of the books she added are ones I have already read.
On Goodreads, because it is the start of the new year, they have a yearly reading challenge.
My wife thought I was crazy to put my reading goal at 100 books. I figure I read 66 last year, I may as well try for more this year.
Last night while I was at work, Sam texted me from work and asked if I had read a specific book. I told her I hadn’t and asked what it was about. She sent me the synopsis and I added it to my “want to read” list. Somehow, I think she may very well be the one to read 100+ books this year.
I am close to finishing book #2 for the year and it is a good one. 98 more to go!
Are you on Goodreads? How do you find the books you want to read?
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 